The present invention relates to a process for removing droplets of liquid that are dispersed in a gas. In addition, the present invention relates to an apparatus for carrying out this process.
In particular, the present invention relates to the removal of droplets of liquid having diameters that are smaller than 10 .mu.m. It is a known fact that the removal of droplets of liquid from a gas phase presents considerable difficulties as their diameters become smaller, and in particular when they reach diameters that are less than 10 .mu.m. However, the removal of small droplets of this kind is both desirable and necessary in various branches of industry.
DE 42 14 094 C1 describes a droplets remover that is used to remove droplets from a flow of gas that is charged with liquid. This is an undulating profile with a flow line that is similar to a sinus wave. This known apparatus is suitable for drops of larger diameter and is based on the principle of direct flow against a wall as a consequence of the inertia of the drops. A droplet remover that operates on the same principle is known from DE 78 15 425 U1. This document proposes that in order to reduce the size of the drops that are to be removed, the sinusoidal passages be fitted with transverse stiffening plates and have corrugated plates at the edges so that the plates can be manufactured to be as thin as possible and thus easy to shape.
All sorts and types of dust separators, for example filtering separators, electrode separators, cyclone-type separators and the like are suitable for removing droplets. However, laminar and centrifugal separators are preferred, especially for removing droplets. When this is done, as in the droplet removal systems described above, the flow of gas is forced to change direction although the droplets do not conform to this change because of their inertia, and thus are deposited on the wall of the channel. However, if the droplets are smaller than 10 .mu.m, such a system cannot be used effectively, since the droplets are almost unaffected by inertia as they follow this flow of gas.
Areas of use in which small droplets of this kind have to be removed from the gas phase are found, for example, in the domain of power-station technology, for example, in gas turbines, which operate at extremely high working temperatures, and the like. Even the smallest droplet can cause considerable damage or reductions of service life in the apparatuses that are used, as a function of the gas velocity.
Proceeding from this prior art, it is the task of the present invention to describe a process for removing droplets of liquid from a flow of gas, which can remove droplets of a size smaller than 10 .mu.m, regardless of the temperature range, using simple means. In addition, an apparatus for carrying out this process is described.